1962 Brabham BT4 Single Seater

Lot details
Registration No: N/A
Chassis No: IC-3-62
Mot Expiry: N/A

In Brabham's Golden Years, thanks to brilliant designs from Ron Tauranac and Gordon Murray, Sir Jack's marque netted a most impressive 35 championship races from the 343 contested.
Designed and built during the first half of 1962, the BT3 was actually the first Brabham F1 car. By spaceframe race car standards, the BT3 chassis was stiff. Outboard coil springs/dampers were used all round, with twin leading top wishbones and trailing lower wishbones at the front, twin wishbones and radius arms at the rear, and brakes mounted outboard. Fuel tanks were located alongside the driver and behind the seat. The water rad was in the nose, with water pipe runs partly exposed. A Coventry Climax V8 and Collotti-Francis 6-speed gearbox were fitted in the rear.
Just the one BT3 was built, driven by Brabham himself, Denny Hulme and, by having been fitted with a BRM V8 in place of a Climax, by privateer Ian Raby. The BT4 chassis that followed was broadly similar to this BT3, though intended for Intercontinental and Tasman events.
The Weybridge-built Brabham offered here is the last of the three BT4s that were constructed by Brabham and Ron Tauranac's Brabham Racing Developments concern. BT4-1C-3-62 is perhaps one of the most successful of the early Brabhams, carrying first owner Aussie Bib Stillwell to victory for two season running in the 1963 and 1964 Australian Gold Star Championship.
Stillwell's full results in period in this car were impressive - in 1963, with 2.7-litre Climax engine behind him, he finished fifth in the Australian GP at Warwick Farm in February, third at Lakeside the next weekend and non-finished at Sandown Park in November. Then in the 1964 season, this time with a 2.5-litre engine fitted, Stillwell came second in the Australian GP at Warwick Farm, followed by sixth at Warwick Farm a week later and fourth in the Tasman Cup at Longford in March.
Period press coverage of the car included exposure on pages 45-49 of the February 1963 issue of Road and Track, page 6 in the 15th of November edition of Motoring News, whilst photos of the car appeared on pages 288 and 289 in the 1st of March 1964 Autosport.
Amongst subsequent owners, all `Down Under', were Kiwi Bill Tomasen, Ian Green, John Riley and Robbie Francevic. For the 1967 Tasman series it was raced for owner Syd Jensen by Jim Boyd and, in the 1968 Tasman races, by Bryan Falloon, who retained ownership of the car until he died in 1972. It then passed through the hands of D Manton, R Hook and C Glasby before being shipped back to the UK and passing into the ownership of leading historic racing competitor John Harper who regularly raced the car until it was acquired by the current owner in 1998.
Since then, a 2.5 Climax was supplied by C &G in 1999 and the same firm has only just carried out a full rebuild of this motor (04/03) with new liners, cylinder head, valves , springs and bearings. An invoice detailing the work carried out during their rebuild can be inspected by checking out the car's history file at the H&H Documents Desk at Olympia. We also understand that the gearbox currently fitted is a Collotti T32, which has had a new set of gears fitted in 2001, the transmission again having been freshly rebuilt by Retro Sport (03/03), with bearings renewed and a new second gear fitted.
The car, of course, comes with a set of FIA papers to enable a successful bidder to compete at the highest level. This historic Brabham Tasman BT4 Coventry Climax could be your entry into some of the world's top events.
Please note: There is also another nose section and a rollover hoop & stay to be sold with this vehicle.